1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to machines for bagging materials such as organic materials, silage, compost, grain, sawdust, dirt, sand, and other compactable materials, and more particularly to an apparatus and methods for towing a bagging machine.
2. Background Information
Agricultural feed bagging machines have been employed for several years to pack or bag silage and the like into elongated bags. Early bagging machines were towed from job site to job site using ordinary farm equipment, such as a tractor or pickup truck. The earliest bagging machine designs had two different configurations so that they could be towed on the highway with their wheels in a first configuration, and then at the job site the wheels would be turned perpendicular for bagging operations. To tow the bagging machine, one end of the bagging machine with a coupler would be lifted and placed onto the hitch of the tow vehicle, so that the hitch would support one end, and an axle would support the other end.
As bagging machines have grown in size, larger tow vehicles have been required to tow the bagging machine. FIG. 1 illustrates a more modern bagging machine 100 being pulled by a large tractor truck 102. Like earlier bagging machines, this bagging machine 100 is supported at one end by a hitch 104 and by an axle 106 at the other end while being towed. As can be seen in FIG. 1, a second axle 108, is just off the ground while the bagging machine 100 is being towed. The second axle 108 supports the other end of the bagging machine 100 when the hitch 104 is uncoupled.
When towing, the hitch 104 must be strong enough to pull the mobile bagging machine 100 along the roadway, and it must also support the weight of the mobile bagging machine 100 on the hitch, or hitch weight. The hitch weight helps to keep the mobile bagging machine 100 coupled to the tow vehicle 102. With too little hitch weight, the mobile bagging machine 100 may not tow properly. Additionally, since the hitch 104 is supporting at least some of the weight of the mobile bagging machine 100, the weight supported by axle 108 may be reduced. However, too much hitch weight may overload the tow vehicle 102 and/or lead to an unstable towing configuration. Highways typically have a maximum axle weight for vehicles driving on them. For this reason, as a vehicles weight increases, it is common to use more axles to reduce the weight on any single axle. For example, the tractor truck 102 of FIG. 1 has two rear axles.
The bagging machine 100 of FIG. 1 is limited in its overall size by the weight on the first axle 106. Once it reaches the maximum capacity of a roadway, any additional weight must be supported somewhere other than the first axle 106, or it will not be allowed on the roadway. By adjusting the position of the first axle 106, the weight distribution between the first axle 106 and the hitch 104 may be changed to cause the hitch 104 to carry a greater load. Alternatively, the bagging machine 100 could have another load carrying axle for use on the highway. For instance, first axle 106 could have a companion axle for distributing the weight, or the second axle 108 could be used to carry some of the weight.
However, in order to use a second, load bearing axle on the frame requires that the axles articulate so that they remain on the ground. If the axle were not articulated, the wheel closest to the tow vehicle would simple lift off of the ground when the hitch was connected. Unfortunately, enabling the axle to articulate results in a more complex design, and may also interfere with other aspects of bagging.
It would be beneficial to develop a system and method for towing a bagging machine that would enable a larger bagging machine to be towed, without the added complexity and complications of an articulated axle.